Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

by Paul A. Offit

OPIUM FIRST MADE ITS WAY TO China in the seventh century A.D., where it was used primarily for medicinal purposes, although sometimes it was added to sweets and cakes. At first, opium was a pleasant distraction. But when the Portuguese brought the smoking pipe to China, everything changed. Chinese citizens couldn’t get enough of the drug. In 1660, British-owned companies shipped 1,350 pounds of opium from India to China; by 1720, 33,000 pounds; and by 1773, 165,000 pounds. About three million Chinese citizens were addicted. In response, the Chinese government banned opium smoking. It didn’t work. By 1839, the British were exporting a startling 5,600,000 pounds. At least 25 percent of the Chinese population was addicted to opium; in some regions, the addiction rate was as high as 90 percent. Chinese society was on the verge of collapse. In response, the Chinese government pleaded with British officials to stop exporting opium from India. When they refused, Chinese officials, desperate to end the massive epidemic of addiction and crime that had overtaken their country, took the next step. In 1839, Commissioner Lin Tse-hsu seized and destroyed 2,600,000 pounds of British opium. War ensued. Between 1839 and 1860, China and Britain fought two Opium Wars. China lost both times. As a consequence, China had to open more ports for opium importation, pay Britain $21 million in reparations, and cede Hong Kong to British rule (which, by treaty, wasn’t returned to China until 1997). Ev...